St Pat's Tournament of Minds Applied Technology team travelled all the way to Perth for the Australasian Pacific finals of this challenging competition on October 20. This is the second year in a row that the school has reached this level.

The seven students from years 7, 8 and 9 won the ACT territory finals to earn the opportunity to represent the ACT against teams from every state and territory as well as New Zealand, Hong Kong and Singapore.

The Saint Patrick's team comprised Madeleine Rooney, Jessica Brown, Angela Sullivan, Charlie Keegan Bull, Jasmine Bujalski, Magdalene Shatrov and Emma Holgate. While they didn't win at national level, their presentation was outstanding with a blend of drama, humour, social commentary and environmental awareness.

The Tournament was opened by the Vice-Chancellor of The University of Notre Dame, Celia Hammond, who said that, "Tournament of Minds encourages students to approach life with an open and questioning mind, to look at every angle and to work with others in solving problems."

Tournament of Minds is a competition that promotes creativity, teamwork and problem solving skills in young people. Teams work on a challenge and then present their solution as a short play. They are not allowed any adult assistance, use mainly recycled materials for props and costumes and must select their members from a range of school years.

Tournament of Minds was introduced to Australia in 1987 by the Victorian Association for Gifted and Talented Children. Since then it has grown to include all Australian states and territories as well as Singapore, Hong Kong and New Zealand. Saint Patrick's has been involved in Tournament of Minds since its inception in the ACT in 1991 representing the ACT region at the national finals six times.

The Australasian Pacific finals of Tournament of Minds will be held in Canberra next year as part of the centenary celebrations and Saint Patrick's will be trying their hardest to make it three in a row.